NHS news in brief

Our weekly round of NHS and healthcare stories

GP sick note bonus mootedGPs could be paid bonuses to reduce the number of long-term sick notes they give out under new government plans to reduce incapacity benefit claims.

Work and pensions secretary, John Hutton, said the proposal was still being considered in a package of changes to be published in a green paper on welfare reform.

ìIt has been mooted and I think this is something we would like to talk to the GPs about,î he told the BBC's Sunday AM programme.

NHS Alliance publishes primary care guidePrimary care trust organisation, the NHS Alliance has published a practical guide on how to become one of the new generation of NHS providers.

The nuts and bolts of primary care provision is written specially for NHS frontline clinicians and managers who want to get involved in new opportunities for alternative providers of primary and community care services.

ìIt's a policy that is here to stay,î said NHS Alliance chairman Dr Michael Dixon. ìThe NHS Alliance believes it is the people who really understand primary and community care who should lead the way - the people who are already delivering services, who understand local patients and people, and who will uphold the NHS ethos.î

NHS managers told to turn to financesHealth secretary is to order NHS managers to put sound finances ahead of clinical objectives, according to the Guardian.

The paper said Hewitt is preparing to issue the first rule book for NHS trust managers in an attempt to prevent mounting debts from destabilizing the government's health reforms.

Around one quarter of NHS trusts have fallen into debt during the current financial year, with accumulated debts forecast to rise to almost £950m.